At Kids Club last Saturday it mattered not whether you were surfing, coaching or just taking the pictures – you got a soaking! With that horizontal mizzle that is peculiar to Porthmeor, we spent a couple of hours practising angled pop-ups and trimming in surf that was middling to strong for our junior chargers. Here’s a flavour of what we saw from them;
The Kids Club season to date had been a diet of small friendly waves under a burning sun. This week brought a very different challenge as strong winds accompanied showers and the larger waves were further complicated by rippy conditions in the shallows. Many of our youngest and newest members had never experienced such conditions before but demonstrated bravery and determination in meeting the task. There were great rewards for those who could get to their feet and set a line with some long rides on some meaty waves. There were also some clattering wipe-outs witnessed! Well done to both coaches and surfers in stepping up to this newest challenge.
The fine summer continued throughout the end of school term and we again found ourselves with balmy weather and a small wave for the club on 14th July. It was a further opportunity to work with the coaches on trimming along the wave and on speeding up and slowing down.
The following week saw the first break in the weather with a cold, wet start to the 9 o’clock session. Harris led the Nemos with an exposition of how to finish a wave as the section closes out. It was a tall order for some of those little tackers to take on, but they gamely gave it a go. There’s another skill to practise in the school holidays! The pictures below are from that most recent session.
Videographer, Greg Dennis was also on hand shooting a couple of interviews with some of our members for a video section to support the club’s fundraising effort on the JustGiving website. You can donate, or just check it out here. All help is gratefully received!
As the exceptional spell of high pressure and warm weather has brought us successive weekends of small but rippable surf for our junior surfers, we have maintained those high attendances and kept the stoke going. The friendly conditions have enabled us to introduce our newest members to the elements of surfing technique needed to both speed up the board and to slow down, as well as trim frontside and backside. It’s such a joy to see them practising and honing these basic skills. Here’s a gallery of shots from those most recent sessions;
A small but rideable swell greeted us on Saturday morning at Porthmeor. Beautiful warm weather with no wind allowed eighty plus surfers to enjoy a mellow session and polish our skills. The younger groups were able to practice their pop-ups and even find time to trim along the waves in such favourable conditions. Happy Days! Here are some pics from the session, including a sneaky practice for tomorrow’s Swellboard Shootout competition by an unnamed instructor.
Saturday 9th of June was the first Kids Club of the season, and 99 eager surfers answered the call. Add in the instructors the helpers and the admin crew and that amounts to over 130 people enjoying the balmy morning, with just enough surf to give the newbies a gentle introduction to the sport but some bigger peelers out back for those returning members to rediscover their mojo. With such fine weather, decent surf and a chance to catch up with old friends, it was a successful day all round. The gallery below captures some of the action.
Saturday 21st of April in The Balcony was the start of the season for many of our younger members as the Kids Club opened for registration for the 2018 season. The crowd had filled the bar long before the 10am sign-up time arrived, and our committee team had a hectic first hour before the flood became a steady stream. Our banner picture features Emma, Luciana and Rebecca manning the desk.
Nav showing clubhouse plans
We were joined on the morning by Lloyd Davies of the RNLI who was recruiting some of our advanced youngsters to a junior lifeguard scheme. He was pleased to report that his target quota for this initial intake was easily filled. Well done in stepping forward kids!
Lloyd outlining the junior lifeguard scheme
Over 140 signed-up to saints boardriders on the day, and there are several more who were unable to make that date but are keen to re-enrol. We also had an enthusiastic take-up of our family membership offers which has proved to be a useful step in our drive to recruit a greater adult membership. All we need now are the waves!
The last day of September and the last day of term for the Kids Club. The morning followed the usual awards day format with the youngest groups completing a normal session while the older ones competed for a prize under international judging rules. Here’s some of the action:
Porthmeor Beach takeaway served up a complimentary dish of hot food, a hot chocolate and a bag of sweets for each competitor before we gathered for the prize giving. The junior groups saw three awards per group: Most Improved Surfer, Most Enthusiastic Surfer and Surfer Of The Summer, while the seniors’ awards went to the winners of the day’s competition. Pictures below! Our thanks to Porthmeor Beach, St. Ives Surf School, Porthmeor RNLI Lifeguards and the many volunteers who give their time freely at every surf club event. Further thanks are due to Tregenna Castle and The Balcony Bar for their sponsorship and support. We have boogied to Sandy Acres Seven and The Mosquitoes on fundraising nights, and rattled our collecting tins at Tescos in following our grand vision of building a clubhouse. Our thanks to them too! Next up is our Surfers Ball at Tregenna Castle on the 20th of October. Tickets are still available, but they’re going fast. Buy early to avoid disappointment. And so to the awards;
We have missed several Saturday morning sessions this season due to high tides around our 9 o’ clock meeting time, but this week’s unforeseen cancellation was for a different reason. Thursday morning saw a menacing deposit of Portuguese man o’ war on the high tide strand line. These were carefully collected and disposed of by the lifeguards, who continued to gather more as they came ashore throughout the day. Portuguese man’o’war is a colony of separate creatures co-existing like a single organism. They can give a particularly painful sting from their long trailing tentacles. Friday saw an even greater haul of strandings, and head coach John Navin, in conjunction with Porthmeor’s head lifeguard, James Symons, felt it prudent to cancel our Saturday morning Kids Club as swell conditions and wind direction were expected to be similar for the weekend. The wisdom of this call was demonstrated on Saturday morning when the fall of man o’ wars was greater than both previous days. We hope to renew our normal service next weekend! Some pictures of the offending articles below.
While local surfers were eagerly anticipating the remnants of Hurricane Harvey bringing a storm swell to our coasts, we were perfectly happy with our waist-high dreamers for Kids Club on Saturday. And taking advantage of these Swellboard friendly conditions we had a great morning stroking in to some clean Porthmeor pearlers under a sunny September sky. See evidence below:
